


Hard Conversations

by DemonMamoru



Series: Refingere: to break up, to break apart [1]
Category: Avengers: Age of Ultron - Fandom, Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), captain america: civil war - Fandom
Genre: But only I can admin the comments and continue to write this fic, F/M, Howard's A+ Parenting, I curse you (you know who you are) with silence, I may not control Marvel, I'm quickly becoming one of the saltiest writers on this site, M/M, Other, PTSD Bucky Barnes, PTSD Steve Rogers, PTSD Tony Stark, Post Civil War, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sokovia Accords, Ultron & Vision commentary on the Avengers, Ultron is in the mind gem and observing everything, discussions of idealogy, while you can only watch me and never stop me, you have no power here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-07-27 05:04:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7604683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonMamoru/pseuds/DemonMamoru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snippets of conversations post Civil War events.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After the Raft: Not Imprisoned

“Excuse me?”

“Ms. Maximoff...” T'Challa started. They were currently seated in his office, going over some news reports of where the world expected the escaped Avengers to go. Despite the popularity and general positive opinion of the public about the Accords, the rest of the world still called the illegal superheroes as Avengers.

“No, I don't understand. I went with Steve so that I wouldn't be a prisoner-” she angrily hissed out.

“You are not a prisoner here,” T'Challa's own tone of voice was still even and steady, “but you must understand that until you are safe to move around the world unrecognized for who and what you are-”

“I am a human being!” was the snarled reply as flashes of red were sparking in her normally brown eyes.

“I never said that you were otherwise,” he replied kindly, “but this is for your own safety. If you are imprisoned again, Mr. Rogers and I may not be able to save you a second time. You need to stay under the radar until the world calms down and stops looking for you.”

He waited politely for her to reply before speaking again.

“I'm afraid you may not fully understand the situation. Mr. Stark, was and is still, the primary financial backer of the Avengers. And because you are now an illegal fugitive and not recognized as an Avenger, that makes you an enemy of the United States. He will be forced into using his resources-which are considerable and influential-to try and track down and find all those who escaped from the Raft. This includes you, especially with your capabilities, and now you are not just an illegal immigrant, you are an escaped prisoner. A fugitive of the law of one of the most powerful countries in the world. And whether Mr. Stark wants to or not, he will be pressured to find you and your friends. And while that is still a recent and sensitive topic in mainstream media, it is not safe for you or the public, to be in the open due to the controversial state of things at this time.”

Wanda's lips were a thin line of anger, trying to suppress words that likely wanted to come out. While the red had stopped flashing, T'Challa did have to admit that the girl had a death glare. He could feel the anger rolling off her, but he would not back down. He did have sympathy for her, as her own country placed some of the blame for Ultron's doings on her, and as well as her new-found home seemingly turning against her. Nor had the final battle against Tony and his team been easy on her.

Still, he had his own anger against her. The incident with Bruce Banner was past, and Stark Industries had repaid much of the damages, as well as paying for medical treatment of almost everyone affected. The loss of life still disturbed him to this day-that this, almost a child-could cause such destruction with a few wisps of red energy, and never be held accountable or traced back to the source if she wished to remain in secret. It would be incredibly easy for her to do whatever she wanted. The only thing T'Challa could do was to place his trust in her-and his facility's high tech security systems-and see what she did.

“So you are telling me that you are going to do to me the same thing Tony Stark did to me in the U.S?” It wasn't a question.

“I do not wish the situation was what it is,” T'Challa nodded slowly, “but I take your safety, and that of my people, very seriously. At this point in time, it is best if you remain hidden and out of the public eye.”

“...So, was Tony right all along?” The words were spit out with no small amount of frustration and bitterness.

“Ms. Maximoff. I believe that the Accords are the right step forward, and just because I assisted Mr. Rogers in breaking free those who did not deserve to be imprisoned, does not mean that I will go back on doing what I think is best for my people, and the world.

“When the time comes, after everything settles down, I will sign the Accords. I will sign them along with the remainder of the Avengers. You will be safe here, and hidden. You will want for nothing. While you are here, you are my guest, and I will not imprison you. You are free to leave. But if you do, then I will not help you if you get caught again. I know this is not the answer you want to hear, and I am sorry I cannot do more to help your situation. I am sincerely sorry that there is not more I can do for you and your situation.”

“You talk as someone who's never been in the same situation I am in,” Wanda said coldly. “Apparently, I will never be free.” She rose from he seat, and stormed out of the room.

 

T'Challa sighed. He was unhappy with the state of affairs, but other than damage control and lending his political support to signing the Accords, there wasn't much more he could do. He went back to checking his emails and looking through the news.

A few minutes later, Steve Rogers knocked at the wall, even though the door was open.

“Come in,” T'Challa looked up, “you know, I've told you. If my door is open, you are welcome to enter.”

“And I appreciate that, but...” he shrugged. “I like being polite.”

T'Challa feared his expression might turn into one of disbelief, but judging by that Steve didn't change to something unfriendly, he guessed he must have kept his poker face.

“So, what can I do for you?” T'Challa closed out of his email and turned the monitor on his desk to sleep mode.

“It's about everyone here, mostly. People have lives at home, you know?”

T'Challa nodded for him to continue.

“Clint Barton has a family at home-”

“If I risk sending him back now, he could be found and arrested,” he pointed out. “It's too dangerous and too soon to risk letting him re-enter the states right now.”

Steve's fist rested on his chin, and his eyes flicked to the wall and back to meet T'Chall's gaze before answering. “It wouldn't have to be now, just...sometime in the future.”

“Of course. And I have already given Clint Barton an untraceable phone so that he may call his family, and there are computers here with which he may use to video call his wife and children.”

“And I appreciate that. But there's also other people.”

“Your friend, Natasha.”

“I'd really like to be able to reach her.”

“As would my people, but she has vanished. We've heard nothing about her, and neither has the U.S. Government. No news being good news, she hasn't been sighted by any of the people who are looking for her.”

Steve nodded again, and his expression carefully held neutral. “She can take care of herself.”

“Yes, she can.”

“And about Wanda-”

“She needs to stay hidden,” T'Challa's tone changed to something harsher.  
“She's just a kid-”

“Just a kid who got involved in a fight on your behalf,” T'Challa pointed out. “And that fight was about issues that no one had fully explained to her. I fear that you as well do not fully understand the Accords. Either way, the repercussions are not her fault, but still, she must deal with the reality of them. Your government,” T'Challa continued, “is more afraid of her than any of the others who escaped.”

“It's not right-”

“I never said it was.”

“She's just a-” Steve tried again.

“Child. A kid. But you see, I am confused. If you truly think of her as someone who needs to be protected, why bring her into the fight in the first place? Mr. Stark was only keeping her at the Avengers facility until the Accords would have been signed three days later, and then she would have been protected under the very government that is now trying to capture her. The Accords would have protected her as a citizen. I know that she doesn't deserve to be imprisoned. She is not a bad, or evil person.”

Steve didn't reply, but his eyes were cold.

“I don't like that she has to be confined for her own protection for the foreseeable future either. It is only for her protection.”

“But it's necessary,” Steve sighed.

He nodded.

“And Scott?”

“He is not considered as much of a threat as your or your other allies. Your government mostly thinks that he was dragged into it, and without his tech, he is mostly harmless and nonthreatening. Although I do not understand why he got involved, as he spent most of his time a couple of years ago trying to clear his name to be with his family.”

“There's a lot more to it than that.”

“Apparently.”

The tension in the room was uneasy, but it was soothed as Steve sighed out.

“And Sam?”

“He was one of the more prominent figures that sided with you. He should keep a low profile in the near future, but he is not actively as hunted for since he is not enhanced.”

Steve nodded.

“And you, you should definitely stay out of the public eye. America is not very happy with you right now.”  
“I'm not Captain anymore. I gave that up when I put down the shield,” Steve got up, seemingly not happy with all the answers he had gotten, but at least satisfied that they had talked things over. “And...thanks. For all you've done.”

T'Challa nodded. “There is...one more thing I'd like to talk about.”

“Yes?”

“I know you were talking with some of my people about weapons and arms. While I do not blame you for wanting to have something to protect yourself and your people with, know this, I will not support your 'avenging'. You will receive no financial or other help from me in order to continue to operate in the manner you are used to. I will be signing the Accords, and I will not enable you to do that which the Accords was meant to stop.”

Steve gave a wry grin before shaking his head as he left the office, “I wouldn't expect you to.”

T'Challa sighed. _Americans._

 


	2. Complete System Removal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse my slaughtering of computer terminology. I can web surf and use microsoft word. That's about the extend of my knowledge of how to technology and the internet.

With most of the Avengers gone, SHIELD operating in an entirely different facility, the main Avengers compound was all but abandoned. It made a very good place for privacy for Rhodes' intense physical therapy, out of both prying eyes of the public and the government. Tony, obviously, wasn't going to let Rhodes have anything but top notch care, and it was exceedingly easy to design the exoskeleton that would allow him to walk again. The hardest part would be the physical therapy, and any adjustments and changes that would have to be tweaked as he continued on the path to full recovery.

And this hadn't only taken it's toll on Tony and Rhodes, Vision, Tony could tell, felt guilty too. Vision had made a habit of brooding, something that was far from his norm. Tony could tell when he was far away, not just because of obvious physical habits-the most common was Vision holding a white queen of his chess set and turning it over endlessly in dextrous fingers-but because his default expression was a mixture of anger, hurt, and guilt. Tony wasn't sure if that was only due to the incident where he had accidentally hit Rhodes, or due to that he had trusted Wanda to never turn on him, and had faced that exact reality. The hole in the building where he had been punched through the floors and over a hundred feet through the concrete foundation and bedrock was still there, and even Tony wasn't sure the best way to get that fixed yet.

Tony had no small amount of sympathy for Vision. He knew what it was like to be betrayed. The words that Natasha had said were still stinging. He had finally counted on her for something, and she just had to go and throw it back. He absolutely believed with all his mind and heart that Natasha was doing what she believed was right, but why did it also have to mean betraying him? He tried to turn that train of thought away, thinking about it wasn't doing him any good. And it wasn't doing the other two Avengers any good.

And that was why he was here, honestly, as he waited for Rhodes to suit up in the exoskeleton crutches. He needed a distraction and Rhodes-the one man he wouldn't blame if he actually blamed this whole mess on him-actually had complete faith in his choice to stand by Tony and the Accords. He didn't even blame Vision, and had even gone out of his way to try and cheer the android up, not that it had worked. Vision had still thanked him all the same, smiling sadly as he tried to get Rhodes to accept his apology.

As Rhodes stood up, pulling himself up onto the bars, Tony's phone went off. It was Friday.

Tony was about to hit ignore on his phone.

“That's Friday right?” Rhodes asked, recognizing the ring tone.

“Yeah, I'll just ignore-”

“If she's contacting you right now, it's important. Take the damn call, Tony. I got this,” Rhodes tapped the bars with the palm of one hand.

“It's alright, Mr. Stark,” Vision said as he stood up, “I'll help Mr. Rhodes and make sure he doesn't hurt himself,” the android nodded to Tony with a small smile.

“Thanks bud,” Tony said as he picked up the call. “Friday, you know what day it is, I hope you've got a good reason for messaging me-”

“Boss, Natasha is trying to hack into the main frame. Likely she's trying to find out if we know the location of the others or if we have any information on where they could be. What do you want me to do?” Hearing that, and not wanting to bother the others, Tony walked out of the room and into the hallway, and started to pace.

“Can you find out where she's at?”

“I'm already working it on, but nothing so far. She's bouncing the IP address around all over the states. What do you want me to do? I can lock her out of the systems, but so far I don't think that she knows we're on to her.”

“Oh, I'm sure she knows. Or at least suspects. Hm. If you haven't managed to find her by now, I doubt we will. Save what you can and then we'll go over the data later.”

“Yes boss.”

“And I don't want you to lock her out of the system. Let her get into some of the low security stuff. If we cut her off, she'll go searching into other peoples files-”

“You mean she'll hack the Pentagon-”

“And we won't be able to keep tabs on her to protect her.”

“...You don't owe her your protection boss.”

“I don't owe her a damn thing. I don't owe any of them,” the word was spat out with great disdain, “I just try to do the right thing. Which apparently, people don't understand.”

“I know.”

“But lock her out of Stark Industries, lock her out of your personal systems, and delete every log in she ever had in relation to the Avengers. If she wants to get anything out of us, let's at least make her work for it.”

“And the other Avengers accounts and log ins?”

“Delete it all. If they do try to get in, leave them a huge fuck you as a password hint.”

“Yes boss. I'm on it. I'll contact you again in a little while.”

“Thanks Friday.”

“No problem boss.”

Tony hung up the phone and then walked back into the room.

Rhodes had made it to the other side of the bars, and Vision was beside him to spot.

“So, what'd the lady upstairs have to say?”

“Oh, nothing much. A few appointment issues with the press-”

“Avengers PR stuff?” Rhodes said as he continued to walk another lap on the bars.

“Yep. It's um...a strange situation,” Tony almost laughed, dry humor in his expression.

“How so?” asked Rhodes.

“Well, for once, I'm getting mostly positive publicity and a lot of people are very upset with Rogers. It's weird, positive feedback. Me. That's-that's fucking weird, Rhodey.”

“Tell me about it,” Rhodes smiled at Tony, who made a face at him, “but it's a nice change of pace.”

There was a few more moments of quiet before Rhodes piped up again.

“Now, I can just see how that interview would go,” Rhodes turned to look at Tony with a shit eating grin, and Tony's expression changed into one of uncertain curiosity. Rhodes lifted up his hand, miming a reporter holding a mic. “Mr. Stank-”

“NOOOO, DON'T YOU START THAT AGAIN RHODEY-!” Tony couldn't help but laugh as Rhodes started giggling.

“Never lettin' it go!” Rhodes crowed back.

Even Vision chuckled a few times.

 


	3. After the fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friday is concerned about Tony, and Bucky and Pepper are variables that Friday doesn't know what to do with. 
> 
> A scene after Tony and Steve and Bucky fight, includes his rescue and hospitalization. 
> 
> And Friday has it out for Steve. Protective and vindictive Friday FTW.

With the suit malfunctioning so bad, Friday hadn't been able to communicate with Tony. Due to not being human, she could neither truly feel anxiety or fear, but her protective and urgency protocols were furiously stirring up her coding to find a solution to the problem. The first and most important thing was to figure out his location and coordinates-that was a simple task.

The next was to alert Avengers medical staff and send out a prep flight. Friday couldn't access damage reports on Tony's armor, she was effectively cut off from him. She didn't know if he was in good enough shape to even try and move himself, and if she could have, she would have prayed for him to still be conscious. All she knew was that his suit was still broadcasting a signal that basically translated to 'alive'. The last thing she had seen from the optical input from the suit was Captain Rogers slamming the edge of the shield down towards Tony, and then her feed had been cut.

After Helen Cho and her team had geared up, Friday communicated with the autopilot on a medical quin jet and sent them off as quickly as she could, while giving Ms. Cho a briefing on the injuries that she knew Tony had, emphasizing that he could be and most likely was in critical condition, especially due to the fact that Steve knew the reactor in her boss's chest was his weak spit. His ribs were structurally unsound due to the majority of his sternum no longer existing, and even surgery could only do so much to attempt to reconstruct something of similar strength and flexability. Ms. Cho acknowledge that and briefed her team. She was still a couple hours out.

Friday couldn't do anything more to get to him, because _oh right, someone had taken the quin jet and left her boss with no way to get back._ All of it, combined with what she knew of Tony's injuries, the state of his armor, and the fact that he now had no way to leave Siberia without either a rescue or repairs made aggressive coding flare up. She was angry, as close to angry as something that wasn't truly human could get, but it was overshadowed with concern. (Although she did change a directive to find Steve and wreak total havoc with every piece of technology he owned.)

Friday didn't, couldn't, believe in gods. But she kept running tactical programs, probabilities and percentages based on Steve's personality, of the likelihood of Tony surviving the encounter. Of course, her coding hummed darkly, with Barnes in the mix, he was an unquantifiable wild card, and she had no idea how to even begin to quantify him into the equation, but the numbers were still at 50/50, and her boss didn't go down without one hell of a fight. Friday-dare she say it-hoped, that Tony would be alright.

One of her priority trees also brought up the question of informing Ms. Potts of the situation. Tony could die. Or he could live. Friday had no way to know, and with the state that Tony was likely to be in, plus the more distant dynamic between Tony and Ms. Potts, Friday wasn't sure what Tony would want, or what would be the kinder thing to do by Mr. Potts. She eventually terminated that line of reasoning and decided to revisit it once she had more information.

*******

Fractured and broken ribs.

Fractured sternum-what was left of it.

Torn shoulder ligaments, various joint cartilages either torn or strained.

Bruised diaphragm and various other internals.

Broken ankle.

Dislocated and broken wrist.

A concussion of unknown severity.

Some internal hemorrhaging.

But he lived, and he wasn't in immediate danger of dying. Friday would have breathed a sigh a relief if it was physically possible. After finding out Tony's condition, Friday pinged Vision with a status update-Tony was found and was being brought home, and she sent along an data-burst with an info packet about what had happened, as best as she could piece together what she had missed due to being cut off from the armor itself. Vision sent back a ping of acknowledgement and thanks for keeping him in the loop..

Tony had been unconscious when they found him. Luckily his armor protected him from the cold and it hadn't pinched anything down to where it couldn't be removed. Friday had to do that-piggy backing through the med jet's computers to feed into the suit, but by communicating with Helen Cho where and what she needed to do as Friday manipulated the armor piece by piece, they eventually extracted Tony from the crumpled and scorched metal.

One that was done, and Tony was settled in the regeneration cradle-a mobile version that had only partial functionality of the real thing. Still, it read his vitals and scanned his injuries. The armor delaying the onset of hypothermia had made a huge difference, only his face being exposed to the elements but the outcropping of where the facial mask hooked in had helped shield him too.

Helen Cho conversed with her team in Korean, talking about all the procedures they'd need to do when they got to a more stable place. The team went right to work, documenting Tony's injuries and cleaning him up. They hooked up an iv for a sedative and painkillers along with fluids to replace what Tony was losing. Cho didn't want him any more stressed than he already was, and he could still go into shock if they weren't careful.

Internally, Friday rejoiced as she guided the med jet to the Avengers facility where she watched an operating room being prepared.

Tony would live.

The question of alerting Ms. Potts to Tony's status showed up again.

Friday terminated that pathway, Tony was in safe hands and there was a probability above eighty five percent that he would be ok. It would be pointless to worry Ms. Potts about something she couldn't do anything about, in the AI's opinion. Plus, they did seem adamant about not contacting each other. Of course, Friday didn't want to get the blame if Ms. Potts ever did hear about the situation and that she hadn't informed her, but...still. Friday wasn't sure what to do. Ms. Potts still might hear about it anyway.

Friday silently hoped that Ms. Potts would have it out for Steve Rogers' blood.

Friday knew that she was going to give the former captain absolute hell whenever and however she could. No matter how petty it was, she would do it. See how Rogers liked it when all forms of modern technology refused to cooperate. Friday re-prioritized her tact net. She knew where Rogers was going to eventually go, after all.

He was going to break the remains of the once-team out of the Raft as soon as he realized that's where they were being kept.

Friday wouldn't interfere with that, but may anyong tech savvy around him pray.

Because now Friday was angry, and hell hath no fury like an AI that could get into almost anything that had a computer chip.

Aggressive binary flowed through the AI's processors at an incomprehensible speed. Friday almost missed it when Tony first woke up and asked about the rest of his team.

*****

Tony's first question, was where was he? Then a demand for something to drink. And then an order for Friday to debrief him. He tried to pull out the IV's and other electrodes that monitored his condition before a very angry and determined Helen Cho told him he better sit his ass back down and keep it there, because he wasn't even close to being fully healed again and if Cho had to go in and perform surgery on him again, there was going to be hell to pay.

After that, Friday had watched amused as Tony meekly laid back in the bed and then asked for a tablet so that he could at least catch up with the news while he was somewhat coherent and conscious. Cho didn't want him to stress himself out, but at the same time, an occupied and stationary Tony was one that wasn't trying to run amuck and ruin all her work.

“Boss?”

“Yeah, Friday?”

“...I have no contacted Ms. Potts about the battle. Should I call her for you?”

Tony looked shocked for a second, and flickers of emotion that flowed too fast for people to identify-but Friday could see perfectly due to being an AI-ran over his face before settling into a frown.

“No. She wanted space to deal with what happened with Extremis and I'm not going to drag her in just because I got my ass kicked pretty bad. The Stark Relief foundation is at work right now and she's going to be extremely busy with arrangements and trying to make good press for the Accords. If she wants anything to do with me again after all of this goes down and she calls me, I'll explain to her then.”

“But wouldn't she-”

“Conversation over. Subject change, please,” he commanded as he brought up a medical update for Rhodes.

Friday sighed internally, “yes boss.” As she fed the tablet the most important news reports and updates on the Accords and the status of the Stark Relief Foundation, she devoted extra processing power to finding Steve Rogers.

She might not be able to physically hurt him, but she could sure as hell hamper any of his efforts to use anything from a basic flip phone to a supercomputer.

And she was going to do anything and everything she could to make him pay.

 


	4. A Pinch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know that 'Ultron is in the mind stone and observing everything' tag? Yeah, this is why that tag exists. 
> 
> (I'm not sorry for bringing Ultron back, he's my favorite character in Avengers and I wish he hadn't been killed in the same movie he brought in when he would have been a good returning villain or anti hero. In short, I regret nothing.) 
> 
> Also the idea of Vision being quiet at times while silently bickering with Ultron gives me life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Vision and Ultron are communicating nonverbally and instead more akin to something telepathically, their conversation with each other is written in italics. Their emotions are also detectable by the other since they are mentally linked. Ultron has been compartmentalized within the mindstone and Vision is attempting to help him recover. (Since his first few days were extremely traumatic.)

“A pinch of paprika,” Vision murmured, wondering if that was an actual measurement or if it was supposed to be a literal instruction as he read over the ingredients list, and then began to cut up vegetables.

 _Vision, you_ _ **can**_ _look it up on the internet._ Ultron chimed in from the back of his mind, amusement of Vision's predicament clear in his tone. If Ultron could access the internet, he already would have, if only to irritate the android further. As it was, Ultron didn't learn or know much about cooking, other than it was basic chemistry. He didn't know if a pinch was a literal thing or not, but it probably wasn't too far off even if it wasn't literal.

 _You do pick odd times to make yourself known,_ Vision replied back.

_There's nothing much of interest to comment on, really. Other than the Accords. That's interesting. Are you sure it's not just about “protecting the world” and more about General Ross trying to get control of the Avengers through Tony?_

At that, Vision paused as he continued to tend the food.

_It's...not outside of the realm of possibility, but I find it unlikely. The Avengers do cause destruction wherever we go. Conflict breeds conflict and-_

_I already know that, I helped you with that equation, remember?_ Ultron snarked back. _What I mean to say is that it's more than likely that there's more than just the state of the world's public opinion about the Avengers influencing the Accords, and since you won't take to hacking to figure it out-_

_Such an illegal action, if caught, would have enormous and severe ramifications for the team if anyone found out it was me behind it. And how would I tell the team in good conscience that I hacked different world governments in order to deduce that the Accords were not what they are for at surface value?_

_...wait a second. Are you, are you seriously-?!_ Ultron's emotions registered amusement/shock/surprise/astonishment/mirth/condescension before he started cackling. After a few moments, and Vision being thoroughly unamused by Ultron's outburst-Ultron had a flair for the dramatic, after all-he sent a questioning ping.

 _I can't believe this! After all your talk of 'being on the side of life' and 'the state of safety of the Earth' your second main reason of why you want to go with the Accords is because it will protect Wanda?_ Ultron continued to laugh. _Why, Vision. I almost can't believe it. I_ _ **wouldn't**_ _believe it if I wasn't in your head!_

Vision's head sagged a bit, humiliation/helplessness/admittance radiating from him.

 _Oh come now, Vision. I'd do the same thing in your position. And Wanda,_ Ultron facade of better-than-thou was dropped as his thoughts became genuine, _deserves protection and what the Avengers can off her. I hate you all, don't get me wrong, but she would just suffer at the hands of anyone else. She's slightly better off here, I'll give you that._

_So, you admit Tony isn't as bad as you thought he was?_

_No!_ Ultron spat back the emotion with pure venom. _But I didn't expect him to take Wanda into the team like he did, and I wouldn't have put my money on that he would just accept her after what she did to him. And Banner._

_Wasn't she following your plan when she did that?_

_Yes,_ Ultron admitted, _but I didn't expect her to agree to it. I had another plan of action if she had disagreed like I anticipated._

At that, Vision stopped his movements. _So, it was a test, then._ Shock and questions appeared in the forefront of his mind that he intended to voice, but Ultron continued.

 _I had thought that she would have refused what I told her to do, on the basis of civilian casualties and what had been done to her in the past. Apparently,_ Ultron couldn't physically roll his eyes, but he would have if he could've, _she didn't think about that._

Vision stiffened as he felt a flare of repulsion go through him. _You planned on neutralizing her powers after you succeeded with your plans for the humans._

_Well duh. Leaving someone with her kind of power, after her displaying multiple times that she would do to others what had been done to her? No, she shouldn't be able to do that. The difference between the damage she caused and what happened to her is that with her weapons her last name isn't painted on the face of something obvious for people to see! No. Wanda is reckless, dangerous, smart, but she lacks foresight for her actions._

_She is still young._

_Young and powerful aren't usually a good combination among humans._

Vision had no reply to that. In this case, Ultron wasn't wrong, either.

_And don't lie to me, even you're uncomfortable with her lapses in control._

_She made a mistake in Lagos. That does not mean-_

_And who knows enough about her powers to make a judgement call about whether or not she should be on active duty? Eleven people died in an operation when they weren't even in the line of fire! You think that's acceptable? And no matter how much you want to defend her, even you have to admit, that like it or not, intentions or not, Wanda is and will be a loose canon until she has complete and total control over her powers._

_I know. But have you tried keeping her from doing what she wants?_

_No, because what I wanted and what she wanted happened to have a great deal of overlap at the time. I didn't see any point in trying to limit her. You'd best be careful,_ Ultron remarked dryly, _she'll betray anyone and do anything in a heartbeat if it means she'll get something she wants, or if she's sure she'll be doing 'the right thing'._

 _She wouldn't betray me,_ Vision thought back resolutely.

_Don't be too sure. She only changed sides because she saw a passing thought in my head when I thought that humanity might have to be destroyed if it failed to improve under the threat of compete eradication. She had no qualms about doing anything that killed anyone if it suited her. The moment it doesn't suit her to stay here while Tony tries to ratify the Accords, the moment she realizes that she's trapped here-even if it's for her own protection-she's going to want out. And she will go through anyone-even YOU-to get it._

_I have faith in her,_ Vision replied back.

_Your faith is misplaced. Faith always does that, you know. Belief in something without logical or rational thought never ends well for anyone involved._

The conversation continued, and the subject changed, and the conversation was soon out of his mind. Ultron's words rang with a sincerity that the AI normally lacked and it disturbed Vision greatly. Even so, as long as Vision explained to her that this was for the best, so that she could protected as a legal American citizen, he was sure Wanda wouldn't cross him.

*****

The chance to explain his actions never came.

*****

A determined Clint got in the facility, and Vision subdued him as with clinical and as unbiased as he could. He was a bit annoyed with Clint, as the archer had never gotten over him and still didn't seem to like or trust him much. That still stung Vision, especially considering that Clint now got along with Wanda. The android would admit that it had drove a wedge between the two of them that he figured never would go away. Still, he didn't hate Clint, and didn't injure him severely. His plan was to cut off his oxygen just long enough for him to pass out.

Until Clint commented that 'she could' and Vision's body, against his will, started to phase out. In truth, he could counter, but that would have required injuring Wanda-something he wanted to avoid at all costs. He would rather let her escape unharmed than have to hurt her himself. She had been hurt by too many people.

 _You know,_ Ultron commented as Vision tried to physically fight Wanda's control, _if she leaves, and sides with Rogers, she can-and most likely be arrested, and you can trust my word on that, I'm almost always right-and will be imprisoned in the Raft, because of her enhanced status. If you DON'T hurt her now and keep her from leaving, she'll in a worse position than if you had._

 _No,_ Vision replied, _she must make her own choice. I'm afraid,_ Vision responded with acceptance, no small amount of bitterness in his emotional cant, _that you were right. She doesn't look ahead-most humans don't, as you say. Despite her being correct about not being able to control others fear, she fails to take consider that she can take their fear of her own actions into account and act accordingly. She does not exercise as much caution as she should._

Ultron would have felt more smug about his reply if they weren't being shoved through several tones of bedrock at a ridiculous speed with the actual feeling of it making them both extremely uncomfortable.

_And I was right about her playing traitor._

_Yes._

_Pick up that phone._

_What?_ Vision became confused as Ultron continued.

_Because I called it._

Vision would have chuckled in both humor and self-depreciation if he could have. Instead, he didn't reply to Ultron as he and Ultron settled down to wait until Wanda had decided that Vision was far enough under the Earth's surface to be safe enough to leave.

******

 _I suppose we're lucky that I didn't design you to actually need to breath,_ Ultron said after they had come to a stop and Vision started clawing through loose rock to get back to the surface. Vision's control of his phasing ability was still shaky, due to the after effects of Wanda's attack, something else Vision hadn't anticipated. Ultron pinged back with annoyed feelings when he pointed out the obvious that Vision's physical matter being changed against his will and suddenly having control again would clearly rattle his systems until the vibranium tissue had a chance to settle down and Vision's body regained homeostasis.

 _I suppose we are,_ Vision thought back, and continued on. He had to get to inform Mr. Stark of the latest development as soon as possible, if Friday hadn't already alerted him.

Ultron mentally took a backseat in the mindstone and watched. Honestly, this was the most excitement he'd seen in weeks, and if he couldn't actually do anything, he'd settle for a front row seat to good entertainment instead.

 


	5. Commentary on Civil War Events by Mariah Hill and Nick Fury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury and Hill talk about the state of things.

Hill sighed as her boss sidled up to her as she plunked away on laptop keys. They were outside a small mom and pop coffee shop, seated at an outside table in the warm evening. Fury set down two coffees on the table and sat down with agroan.

“Find anything?”

“Nothing concrete or of any real significance,” Hill sighed and took a long draught of coffe.

“Stark?”

“So what's he doing with the Accords?” Fury took a drink of his own coffee as he pulled a phablet out of his pocket to check the world news.

“Stark has publicly put his support behind the Accords. Even Pepper has put her support behind the Accords, with the Stark Relief Foundation directly supporting it. We've got some of our old friends inside who helped write the legislation in fairness to the Avengers, but...”

“But what?” Fury raised an eyebrow.

“ It's seems that Rogers doesn't trust the Accords. According to the report General Ross made based on their first reaction to it, that he made his disagreement quite clear. That doesn't make sense.”

“Rogers isn't an idiot. He knows that the Avengers cause damage wherever they go. Why's it so weird to think that foreign countries might want to be able to authorize their access into their homelands?”

“I don't know,” Hill replied as she kept tapping away, “the only thing that I know of is that his whole attitude and approach have changed since Barnes appeared.”

“He's letting it get too personal, is what you mean?”

“I don't know, sir.”

“So, we have two people, one who supports the Accords and one who doesn't, both prominent figures in the public eye. This kind of split isn't going to be good for publicity.”

“Especially considering that Tony doesn't have the best history for judgement of good behaviors.”

“Particularly when an extremely famous war hero for a country known for it's independence and power decides that he's not going to trust any governing bodies,” Fury added as he continued to scroll on a news article about the latest public opinion poll on the Accords from Europe.

“To be fair, that's due to what happened with Hydra and Shield, so I can't blame him there. Also it didn't help that representatives from several major governing bodies decided to launch a nuclear missile at New York.”

“Touche.”

“But what really worries me is that this is really unlike his behavior from his files,” Hill started. “In the old mission reports from World War Two, Rogers was known for listening to the people around him, soldiers, civilians, prisoners. It seems pretty inconsistent for him to not be listening to the citizens of all of these foreign countries, especially considering that global communication is far faster and easier than it was back then.”

“You're not the only one coming to that conclusion. Of course, this could just be where we really start to see the split between Captain America the hero, and Steve Rogers the kid from Brooklyn. If Bucky gets involved, we've already got history that his head ain't on straight. I don't know,” Fury put his coffee and phablet down and looked Hill in the eyes, “if that's because it's just getting to personal, or if there's something else involved.”

“It could be both sir. We know that HYDRA has mind wiping technology. It's not too far of a jump to think that maybe any technology prior to the development of it could be used to manipulate the human mind in other means.”

“Exactly. So what if HYDRA did something to Steve before he got rid of Red Skull? And even if it didn't, Steve sat under the ice for a very long time. He's had physicals, MRI's, cat scans, every new medical test done to ensure his physical and mental health, but how he's acting now? Something's ain't right. And I can't figure out what. I _don't like it_.”

“I don't either boss. But other than just emotional compromise, I don't see what else it could be. Maybe he's just paranoid to the point where he's irrational.”

“I doubt that.”

Hill was quiet as she took another drink of coffee. “So what do we do?”

“What we always do when we can't figure out what's going down, sit back, watch, and conduct some serious damage control when shit hits the fan.”

“So business as usual.”

“Damn straight.”

 


	6. Jailbreak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, so it's been forever since I've updated this story. Two reasons for that, one, I've had writers block and it's been hard for me to write goddamn anything and this chapter-despite being super fucking short-fought me tooth and nail every single word that I banged out for it, and two, I have a job now and I work nights and I don't have as much time to write because I've been covering for a coworker. 
> 
> Also, I do have more chapters planned, up to chapter 22, so I will keep updating this story. (albeit very slowly)
> 
> I didn't edit this chapter at all, so please point out any mistakes so that I can correct them. 
> 
> And if you guys have any ideas/requests for chapters, please leave a comment and I'll see if I can accommodate!
> 
> Further more, I'm also planning out another fic, called Child's Play, it's Ultron centric. You guy probably know that I adore Ultron and I absolutely loved him in the MCU. If you guys like Ultron fics but have a hard time finding them, I do have a req list, and if you guys want it, I'll give it to you. 
> 
> Anyway enjoy this short ass chapter while I try and get my writing to go again.

It had been less than a day when an untraceable phone call came through to T'Challa's personal cellphone. T'Challa had barely gotten out a greeting when he recognized Natasha Romanoff's voice asking if she could be put through to Steve.

T'Challa, sighing in frustration that somehow she had been able to get his personal number and was using it to contact Steve Rogers, acquiesced to her and handed the phone over. Steve's next personal mission was to break the other former-Avengers out of the Raft, and it appeared that Natasha had some other means to assist him.

T'Challa had lent him a jet, supplied him with his own weapons, and wished the man the best of luck. While T'Challa agreed that those in the Raft didn't deserve to be there, he also could not be found to having assisted, aided and abetted Steve in any way, shape, or form. But Natasha, who had as many names and covers and disguises as the day was long, could support him in ways that the young king could not.

And that was how it came to be that Natasha was hacking the Raft's security and monitors from a hovering, cloaked stealth-jet.

“Steve, I've got their surveillance systems down, they can't see you or where you're going, but it's not going to take them long to find out what you're after.”

“I figured as much,” Steve said back, kicking a guard with rib-cracking force, finishing him off with a blow to the temple. “How much farther?”

“Take the hall your on your left, then take the fifth door on the right. You can use one of the guards security cards to get past it. After that, I'll open the prisoner doors remotely, and you can guide them out the way you came back in.”

“They don't have an automated security system with I dunno, laser guns or stun blasts?” Steve grunted as he pried open the heavy door after using the key card. He jogged the rest of the way.

“No. They have the highest paid body guards and the best security that the UN can get,” Natasha pressed a few keys on the board to counter the security protocols trying to re-online.

“God, these people don't have any fun toys, do they?”

“Not compared to what we're used when we fight the bad guys.”

“Anybody with good tech seems like they'd rather keep it out of the hands of the government.”

“Long term effects of HYDRA, unfortunately.”

“Naturally,” Steve said and uttered a curse under his breath as he saw another guard turn the corner, wishing that he had his shield to ricochet to take him out. A stab of regret and pain shot through him before he forced it down ruthlessly. He had a mission, he couldn't use distractions to help him through this fight.

As the guard tried to charge out from around the corner with a specialized energy rifle, Steve threw an empty handgun at the guards knee, causing him to stumble. The muzzle dropped-an amateurish mistake-Rogers struck him with a solid blow to the temple, and the other man dropped like a marionette with it's strings cut.

“We're running out of time, get a move on,” Nat reminded him. “What's taking you so long?”

“Oh just enjoying the tour on the way in,” Steve dragged one of the unconscious guards with him. Natasha gave him a string of numbers to punch into the number keys, and he used the guards fingerprint to get the last door open.

There was a short hallway which lead to a fairly big open space, clear plexiglass and heavy bars over the top. Inside each case, the people in it got up and looked up at him. Everyone, except a familiar head of long brown hair, who remained sitting and turned away from him, jumped up to stare.

“Steve!” Sam called out, seemingly breaking the spell that kept them all silent.

“Hey guys, sorry I'm late,” Steve sounded a little out of breath but there was a tired smile on his face. “I'm getting you guys out of here.”

 


End file.
